To the dramatic “Harry Potter” movie soundtrack, Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley Director Linda Jilk, in Hufflepuff House robe and bullhorn, welcomed the crowd at Nellie’s Cave Park in Blacksburg to the literacy-themed event called Potter in the Park.
“This fundraiser is to help local adults learn to read, write and speak and understand English for increased independence in our community,” she said.
The “Harry Potter” books, full of wordplay, puns, acronyms and riddles woven with deeper themes of good battling evil, are often used to practice reading and improve literacy, vocabulary and language skills.
“Harry Potter” is a perfect theme to this race, Jilk said.
“How many times did J.K. Rowling [the rags-to-riches author of the extraordinarily successful Harry Potter series] submit her manuscript?!” Jilk asked the crowd.
Several people, one in a pointed grey hat and enormous beard carrying a stuffed owl, yelled “14!”
That’s right, Jilk said. “She didn’t give up!”
The crowd, with their lightning bolt scarred foreheads, signature Harry Potter glasses, Gryffindor capes, Potter and literacy-themed T-shirts and small golden brown pugs fitted with wings all competed in costume contest, and 140 of them ran a 5K Triwizard Tri-Mile Trail Race run/walk through the park’s hilly pine woods.
The race began at 9 ¾ o’clock (9:45 a.m.).
Following the race, classes in potion-making and, with the Virginia Tech Quidditch Team, participants learned the finer points of muggle quidditch, an equally rambunctious modification of the fictional game which involves flying.
Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley (195 W Main St.) is currently enrolling volunteer tutors.
To learn more, visit: www.lvnrv.org/tutoring-with-lvnrv/.
